People are always watching

​This past week in a leadership meeting, I was giving a talk about the need to remember that as a leader, everyone is watching you.  Not only is your staff watching you but there are others in leadership watching you as well. If you are looking to move up in a company, you will always have peers and others watching you. I shared this, but we all know this is nothing new. However, it’s the question that came out of the room that took me back. The questions was this: “We all know this, but why is it we don’t apply this is in our lives outside of work?” I thought what an awesome question to build on and have a group discussion. So, we did, but it’s what I thought about later that day that stopped me in my tracks. The question was this “Why don’t we do this is in our walk with Christ?”  We are good walking in a church building and acting in one way for 2 hours, but it’s how we act outside of Church that matters. We live in a world today that needs to see more of “US” Christians actually walk like Jesus than “Act” like Jesus. It’s like we are looking for our next promotion.   
 
This morning I heard it put this way “Put on your Gospel Shoes.”  We need to walk the walk that Jesus calls us to do. When you read the New Testament, you find that it talks a lot about how we should live. It describes in detail how your life and actions should be different once you accept Christ into your heart. It’s very clear that we are not saved by those actions, but they should be the fruit of a life that has been changed from the inside out. In other words, our actions should line up with what we profess to believe. The Bible is very clear that there should be a distinction between how we live, act and speak as Christians and those who aren’t.
Just like an apple tree can’t produce oranges, our lives should produce the fruit of the Spirit instead of the fruits of the flesh. You’ve heard the saying that actions speak louder than words. Are your actions confessing Jesus louder than your words? Our faith should be seen through our actions. I love the quote, “Preach at all times. Use words when necessary.” It reminds me that my actions matter because that’s what other people see. Our goal should be that the fruit of our actions points people to Jesus.